Value of exchange.    When I stop to think of it this phrase seems fraught with so many different meanings.   It could simply be a field in a form a retail clerk uses to process a return.  It could be a topic up for discussion among world leaders at some economic conference where we all continue to hope that any day now they will be saving the day.   Or it could even be a theory about numbers and statistics when it comes to blogging and social networking.

I found myself talking with Holly about my theory that you have to look at blog statistics as a three legged stool.   It’s pretty easy to drive junk traffic,  but it will have a terrible bounce rate and an abysmal average visit time.     Those three measurements taken together give a picture of a blog or website’s success in engaging visitors.  But manipulating any one of the three statistics does nothing whatsoever to further any  goals you might have,  from converting visitors to sales to drawing comments and discussion or even just to get lots of folks to button dance on your piece.   It’s easy to manipulate most stats.   It’s much harder to engage with an audience.

It seems to me that the value of exchange for bloggers is in the people that you meet and the conversations that you get to have.   In my experience conversations tend to go on and on and as you speak with people on different posts,  on different sites,  you get to know them and some of them you like more than others,  connect with more than others.    If you’re not meeting and chatting with people…you’re not doing it right  And finally today,  many thanks to Nexus Revolution for suggesting today’s words.